Never look back
by SherlocksDoctor
Summary: Pitch, wanting revenge for his recent downfall stages an attack against Jack. His plan to destroy Jack goes awry however, when the guardians show up. In his haste to leave he takes Jack with him as his unintended hostage.
1. Prolouge

Pitch looked furiously around at the mess that surrounded him. His lair, that had been his since the dark ages, was completely destroyed. _Those_ guardians had come back and destroyed it after they defeated him, not even thinking that maybe someone called that place home. It might have just seemed like a cave to them but...Oh who was he kidding, it was just a cave. But it was his cave, and at the moment it was all he could say was his. No children feared him anymore, his plan that he had carefully orchestrated until there was no possible way for it to fail was crushed to dust by _the guardians._ He was outraged at the fact that five children loving, sophomoric imbeciles had vanquished him, _the nightmare king_. He had done everything so perfectly, planned it so well that nothing should have gone wrong. But then the guardians pulled their trump card; Jack Frost. The youthful trickster who had so much potential, but let it go to waste on the 'good side'. Jack could have been ruling this whole world with him if he had just agreed in Antarctica. Out of all the guardians, Jack was the only one who's powers could combat him by themselves. With no training at all Jack managed to knock him out of the sky on his first try. Pitch could only imagine how powerful Jack could have been if he had been trained by him.

The guardians would have been tossed to the side and forgotten about if Jack hadn't helped them. Pitch could have been all powerful once more, no more hiding under beds, no more shying from the light. There would have been no more light to shy from. His very name would have ignited terror into the hearts of children everywhere. People would hesitate to even look at shadows for fear that he might be there, waiting. Pitch looked around once more at the rubble that he used to call home before disappearing into the shadows. Jack Frost was becoming a growing problem and Pitch was never one to leave a problem unsolved.

* * *

AN-Well what did you all think of the prologue? I personally didn't really like how it turned out, but then again how else was I supposed to set up some sort of a plot? The first real chapter will be up by tonight and I promise I'll try and make it more interesting, since I already have the first five chapters planned out.


	2. Strategies and Thomas

Pitch was seething with rage. His new hideout (if you could even call it that) was an abandoned mine shaft located somewhere south of New Mexico. There were cobwebs and dirt on everything, and the heat was excruciating. Being somewhat underground helped keep the tunnels somewhat cool but the air was still humid enough to make his breathing difficult. He had built a makeshift office where he could try and plot out his revenge on Jack, but along with trying to round up all his missing nightmares and creating more nightmare men, his time was starting to become unmanageable. Although he had created a few nightmare men already, they took an abundance of energy to design. Nightmare men weren't just shadows that followed orders. Nightmare men could think and talk just like any human could. In the past, because so many nightmare men had started to develop their own opinions (Many that differed from Pitch's) he had lost control of the many he commanded. It was one of the main reasons he was defeated during the dark ages, the nightmare men added a great advantage to whichever side they were on. If Pitch wanted to gain power once more he would need nothing less than a nightmare army. The few nightmare men he had created were helping him clean out the little space they had to make it somewhat livable. Even as a being who coveted shadows, he still had his standards. A top a pile of battle plan sketches was an old war journal that Pitch had kept during the dark ages. As a man of strategy he felt it would be more beneficial to him to re-read his old strategies so he could figure out where he went wrong, what he could change to give him the upper hand this time around.

His fourth run through of the journals left him rubbing his temples in frustration. He just couldn't think straight, the only thing that had kept him from winning against the guardians recently, was Jack. So obviously if he took Jack out... The guardians would be as good as gone. What agitated Jack though was how he was going to do it. The guardians always had their eyes on Jack, whether it be in the form of a simple visit or asking Jack to stay at one of their homes. It was quite sad that Jack didn't even realize that they were just using him. Before the man in the moon told them that Jack would be the next guardian, they hadn't even given Jack a second glace, preferring to stay cooped up in their workshops working on the next holiday that would strengthen the children's belief in them. Now that they know Jack has the power to take Pitch down their practically keeping him on a leash. Pitch would care to take a wager that Jack didn't even get to go out flying around without someone watching him now. They wouldn't send someone noticeable, maybe one of Toothiana's little fairies who could fly close without being spotted or one of Sanderson's Dream Stallions who could watch from afar.

Sighing, Pitch pulled out a new stack of papers and began writing down once more. To be able to catch Jack off guard, he would also need to catch the guardians off guard. Maybe he could pull a Troy and send in a decoy. Something that whatever was watching Jack would be distracted by long enough for Pitch and his nightmare men to sneak in and attack. They could destroy him and be away before he guardians even know it was him. The guardians couldn't know that he was the one who killed Jack though. Pitch wasn't strong enough to face them yet, he still needed to regain his power once again. Standing up, Pitch stretch his arms tiredly before heading out back into the mine shafts hallways. The nightmare men in the hallway stood up straighter and the remaining Nightmares whinnied. He nodded in acknowledgment before addressing them.

"I understand that times are tough right now. The guardians are exterminating all shadow creatures that come within their sights, they are like savages! But we are better than them. In fact, I already have a plan. Our rise to victory will not take as long as last time because now I know more than I could have ever wished to have known back then. I can create an army within just a few weeks time and-" His speech was cut off by a brave nightmare soldier stepping forward.

"B-But what of t-this battle? If you a-are so g-great, why did w-we not win this b-battle?" The soldier who stood so strongly before stepped back and lowered his head as Pitch met his eyes. The piercing glare that Pitch issued the soldier was something that not even the strongest of men would want to be on the receiving end of. Just as the look began, it stopped. Pitch motioned for the shadow soldier to stand.

"What is your name?" He queried, his face blank of emotion. The almost formless shadow man thought for a moment before responding.

"T-Thomas sir. My n-name is T-Thomas." His fellow soldiers looked on in horror, fearing that he would be killed for his treason. Pitch just gave a tight lipped smile.

"Well Thomas... We failed because I did not expect the ice spirit Jack to join the guardians, nor to be nearly as strong as he was. Which is why we need to take him out before he can do anymore damage." His silky voice was one of the reasons that Pitch was the nightmare king. He could lead a horse to water_ and_ make him drink, just with a few well spoken words. Thomas, the brave shadow wasn't sure what he was expected to do. Pitch was staring at him expectantly, but Thomas knew better than to disobey Pitch. He was already on thin ice at the moment because of his previous comment and he didn't want to risk his life so soon. Pitch walked towards him in slow, calculated steps. Taking pleasure in the fear that Thomas was emitting.

"Thomas, your obviously a very brave soldier, but just how loyal are you?" Pitch was right next to Thomas' ear, his breath made the hairs on his neck stand on edge.

"I-I might b-be a little out s-spoken sir, but I-I would never b-betray you." Pitch studied Thomas' features. If you looked hard enough into the shadows that formed Thomas, you could see the faint outline of high cheekbones and a strong jaw. Thomas seemed to be the fastest developing nightmare man in the whole group.

"Thomas, you are going to become my right hand man, do you understand me?" Thomas' eyes widened to an almost comical size and he nodded his head.

"Good. You are to report to my office in the morning. Everyone dismissed." Everyone had already started walking down the mine shaft to find a place to set up a barracks, before Pitch called for them once more.

"I need one Nightmare." The smallest of the nightmares was butted forward by the rest of it's remaining pack and everyone else continued to walk away. The nightmares, although they fed on fear, could fear fear themselves and Pitch could sense fear all over this one. She was the smallest of the group, and now that Pitch thought about it, probably the best suited for what Pitch had in store.

As the Nightmare approached Pitch, he led it into his makeshift office and began giving orders in a low tone.

"I'm going to need you to keep an eye on Jack-"

* * *

"_FROST_!" scampering footsteps echoed through the tunnels of Bunnymund's egg forest, a certain moon haired spirit of fun was on the run from a giant kangaroo-err 'Bunny'. He had just about reached the exit when he was tackled from behind.

"Ack! What's your problem bunny?!" Jack snapped spitting out a mouthful of dirt. Bunny stood up and picked Jack up as well.

"My problem is that _you _keep freezing my eggs!" Bunnymund held up a pair of Easter eggs that had frost trailing up the sides. Jack dusted himself off and gave Bunny a smile, hoping to charm himself out of this situation.

"It's not even anywhere near Easter! In fact Easter just passed a couple of weeks ago, what's the big deal? it's only a couple of eggs." Bunny looked just about ready to give Jack a few knots on his head and ask what the big deal was, they were only a couple of knots! Tooth slid into the entrance of the cave with a flutter of wings.

"Bunny are you trying to kill Jack again? That's the third time this week, mister!" Tooth scolded lightly, giving Jack a little push towards the cave's entrance.

"But the little bugger keeps on freezing ma' eggs! What am I supposed to do, just let him do it?" Bunny seemed horrified at the very idea. Tooth just shook her head and followed Jack outside, she had had to deal with this situation more times in the last month than she ever thought she would her whole life time. Shaking her head she fluttered her wings and flew with Jack back to his house. Jack had built his own house in a cave area behind a frozen water fall up in Antarctica. Although both Sandy's Dream stallions and her own tooth fairies complained about watching Jack from such a cold location, it was for the best. Tooth made sure that Jack made it into his abode safely before taking off once more. Tooth didn't really have any worries about Jack down in Antarctica, after all only the guardians and a few of their workers actually knew where Jack lived, and Tooth would have sensed if something was following them. Or that's what she tells herself, as she flew off she took no notice of the petite nightmare that was watching them both from above. The nightmare sniffed the air before dissipating into the shadow of the oncoming night, the silent moon it's only witness.

AN- Well I usually don't like to start a new chapter until the previous one has at least one review, but I would be hoping a little to much for this to get reviews. Sorry this isn't that good but I'm trying. I'm used to writing fun stuff that barely has a plot, not drama war strategy stuff that I actually have tried to plan out! Well love y'all please try and leave me a review if you can, I would love to see what I'm doing wrong and what I'm doing right.


	3. Kink in the plans

Morning came quicker than Pitch would have wished. He was running on about half an hour of sleep, and although he was a spirit he still needed to sleep every now and then. Since he was defeated his sleep schedule looked more like the heart monitor of a dying man. He was lucky if he even got half an hour sometimes, but he could sleep when he was ruling the world. Until then he would work until every part of plan was perfect and there was no way he could fail, and even then he might keep working. He was perfecting his 'Jack attack' plan (Which he would never call it that in front of his subordinates.) When a quick knock sounded itself against the door. Pitch looked up from his writing, his shadow reading glasses laying against the edge of his nose.

"Come in." He drawled, moving his hand in an exaggerated 'open the door' movement even though he knew whoever was on the other side of the door couldn't see it. A nervous looking Thomas peeked around the door, before walking in and towards Pitch's desk.

"Y-you asked t-to see me sir?" Thomas stuttered out, Pitch noticed that despite his fear levels being almost all the way down, Thomas was still stuttering like a five year old meeting his parents friends. Lacking the energy to be truly aggravated with him, Pitch just motioned for Thomas to sit down in the shadow chair across from him. Thomas hesitantly sat down, watching Pitch like a cornered animal. Pitch smirked. Thomas truly did think that Pitch was going to attack him, but his fear levels were down and he was tense which meant that Thomas was prepared to strike out if necessary.

"Now now Thomas, no need to be so tense. Your my second in command right now, I wouldn't replace you so easily." Pitch allowed himself to laugh, hoping it would ease the tension in the room. His laugh was like smooth velvet, and though Thomas still kept himself on edge he was ready to listen to Pitch.

"Alright then. As soon as Aztec gets here we will round up the rest of the soldiers and head out. She has been out all night watching the creatures guarding Jack. When they trade shifts, she will kill the new guards and come back immediately. We will have six hours when she arrives to destroy Jack Frost." Thomas looked confused, and Pitch noticed that he had started to develop more facial features. Thomas now had the beginnings of shadowy eyebrows and a small lips that were still barely wisps of darkness.

"Oh yes, Aztec is that little nightmare that I called in here yesterday. She demands to go by Aztec, and for a little pony she is quite demanding." A ghost of a smile crossed Pitch's face but it didn't quite reach his eyes. A neighing at the door interrupted anything Pitch might have wanted to add to his explanation and Aztec nudged the door that Thomas had left cracked, open. Despite her small stature compared to the rest she made up for it in arrogance. She strutted up to Pitch's desk and whinnied loudly, shaking her mane. Pitch stood and walked out of the door beckoning for the two shadow beings to follow.

"Thomas. Go grab the others. Meet me here in five minutes, tell them to prepare for battle." Pitch waited next to Aztec, who only came up to about his waist.

* * *

Thomas ran back to the 'barracks' where rest of the Shadows were still sleeping. They had been up all night playing poker, and had tired themselves out making new insults to use against whoever was beating them in poker.

"G-guys, you have t-to wake up!" Thomas shouted, the others shadows jumped up at the shouting.

"Wha's goin' on?" They slurred, still tired from the night before. They looked around unti lthey saw it was Thomas shouting.

"Oh god Thomas, why didja' wake us up you stupid shit?" They groaned before falling back onto the floor, preparing to go back to sleep.

"Yeah Thomas, your so damn stupid. We all just got to bed, we knew you had a stutter but we didn't know you were retarded too." Thomas' upper lip curled in resentment.

"I-I got you a-all up b-because General P-itch says we are a-attacking Jack. Right n-now." When Thomas had managed to spit out the whole sentence the entire troop was back up on their feet and barreling over Thomas to get out to the mine's exit.

Thomas frowned deeply and ran to try and catch up with them. They had only been recently created and Thomas was already the butt of everyone's jokes. He caught up with the group where Pitch was waiting and was already filling them in on the situation.

"We all will use the shadows to make our way to Jack's home." Pitch looked a sight. Although earlier he may have seemed like he was exhausted now he was like the epitome of energy. His pupils seemed to have doubled in size and an insane grin had spread itself onto his face. Whoever this Jack Frost man was about to be blindsided by the most terrifying man to exist. Truly Thomas could say that as shadows have been around since the beginning of time, he had been brought into many different forms and been different each time, depending on who summoned him and for what. Thomas had no memory of his past shadow lives and looking at Pitch now made him glad he didn't. Even in his future shadow forms he was sure he would remember this terrifying, blood thirsty look.

"Everyone grab onto one another." Everyone linked hands and as soon as Pitch laid his hand on one of their shoulders they were surrounded by cold snow and dark.

They only had to trek through the snow for a moment before they came into view of a magnificent waterfall. It was moving slowly due to the amount of ice that was falling off of it. Most of the water had frozen as it was going down to create a sort of shield around the mountain of snow it had cascaded off of.

"Behind the waterfall is where _he_ resides." Pitch growled in a feral tone.

"Thomas _you_ will follow me. You five follow me in and the rest of you guard the outside. No one gets in or out." Pitch grabbed a hold of all six of them and they appeared directly into Jack's ice home. For a cave it definitely wasn't what any of them were expecting. The ceilings and walls were in-cased in ice, making everything look white, even the furniture was sculpted from ice. Pitch took notice that there was just a couch, a shelf with a few decorations on it and a bookshelf, that was surprisingly full. He never took Jack for the reading type, but soon that wouldn't matter. Jack wasn't in the main room which meant all that was left was a small room to the left of the ice wall. The room had no door and pitch made quick to shush the shadow soldiers he had allowed to accompany him. They couldn't risk anything stopping them from eliminating this threat. If Jack Frost wasn't taken out he could cost them the entire war between the light and the dark. They snuck into the room, Pitch leading the group into the darkened room. The moment he stepped into the room he knew something was wrong. The air was eerily still and not even a step could be heard, not until it was too late. Jack jumped out of the shadows and onto Pitch, throwing punches out left and right. Pitch, who was slightly taken aback grabbed Jack's wrists to stop him from struggling.

"_Grab him_!" He called out to the others, they tried to grab onto his legs to hold him still but he managed to kick them off. Jack, who still managed to keep his staff in his hand, used it to freeze Pitch's hands. Pitch recoiled, giving Jack just enough time to drop to the floor and roll out of the room. He scrambled u pas fast as he could, the nightmare king and his men hot on his trail. For the second time that day Jack was tackled down. He kept struggling against the shadows who were punching and kicking at him, he was bleeding and he was sure that more than one thing was broken but he kept fighting. He managed to knock one of them back into his shelf with an ice blast but after that a taller shadow man who actually had a face, well part of a face, snatched the staff from his now bleeding hand. But it was too late. The shadow man he'd knocked into the shelf knocked down one of North's snow globes. The globe opened up and his assailants who had been temporarily distracted by the sudden light in the ice room had loosened their grip. When Jack gave all mighty jolt forward, all but one of them let go. Pitch was no stranger to battle and wasn't letting go for his life. Which is how they ended up through the portal and into the main hall of North's workshop. Now that the playing field was evened, Jack lunged at Pitch full force. He aimed directly for Pitch's face, hoping that somehow he could manage to incapacitate Pitch.

Pitch was barely even phased by Jack's punches. In the previous wars Pitch had endured much more than petty punches from some ice spirit who had lost his way to channel his power. Through all the yelling and screaming Pitch finally noticed that there were elves scrambling out of the room to call for help. He had been seen and he needed to end this soon.

Pitch picked up Jack by his neck and slammed him against the wall continuously. North, who had heard all the commotion came running to see what was happening, and couldn't believe what he was witnessing. Pitch was attempting to murder Jack.

"_**Stop**_!" Exclaimed North as he ran towards Pitch. Pitch glanced up and halted his actions. That same old crazed grin on his face. Blood was splattered all over both Pitch and Jack. Though if North would have to guess he could easily see that it was mostly Jack's blood. That thought did not make this situation any better. Pitch knew he was cornered. North knew he had tried to kill...Pitch looked down at the limp frost spirit on his arm...probably killed Jack and he would tell all the guardians. He wasn't strong enough to take on the guardians yet. He could still make it out of this if he did some quick talking.

"I'll stop alright,_ for one month_. I'm going to keep Jack with me for one month, and at the end of that month you will have to decide whether you will give up in this war or whether you want your _precious_ ice spirit, safe and sound." He used the shadows to take both him and Jack back to his hideout. Leaving North standing in his workshop with a horrified expression.

Pitch arrived at the hideout, only to be surrounded by his shadow soldiers asking if he was alright. Their eyes...Or what would have been most of their eyes if they had formed yet, landed on the unconscious boy that Pitch had held up by his shirt collar. Pitch looked over at the boy with a frown. This certainly did cause a kink in the plans.

AN- Wow I'm sorry, this chapter sucked but please review anyway. Reviews keep me motivated so I can get a new chapter out. Usually as long as I get reviews I can pop out a chapter a day, sometimes more. Oh and **gothgal00 **the pairing will be blackice...So far that I can see (But when I planned this out Thomas wasn't in this either I kinda just made him up on the spot)

Thanks to **gothgal00**, **pandy334**, and my good friend **Chezaru** for reviewing! _(If you all can't tell I suck at writing action scenes and scenes in general)_


	4. Start the countdown

_Day 1, 7:52am_

Pitch had an expression of steel as his troop surrounded him. Everything was supposed to go perfect on the mission. It was just going to be a simple get in, get out, thing but Jack Frost once again managed to screw everything up. Pitch wasn't even sure how Jack had known they were attacking, they hadn't made a sound once they entered his ice cave. Feeling the rage build up inside of him his roughly handed Jack over to Thomas who was at the edge of the group.

"You are to watch over Jack until he wakes up. The second he wakes up bring him to my office." Pitch stood at about 6,4 and so Thomas was only to his chin. His height was one of the thing that made Pitch so intimidating. Pitch didn't even wait for Thomas to nod before he shadow hopped to a YMCA. He needed to wash all this blood off and then try and catch up on sleep before Jack woke up, that way he could figure out what he was going to do with this whole situation.

Thomas looked down at the boy in his arms. Thomas, as a shadow being was millions of years old and this little spirit they had gone after could only be a few hundred. Even in human terms this 'Jack Frost' would be considered a youth, Thomas shook his head and readjusted his hold on the child. Jack had blood and bruises covering his entire body. If anyone else saw him they would have believed he had been ran over by a train, but Thomas knew that this is what they did. Not that Thomas regretted it much, Pitch's word is law and he treated them well enough that he would never think of betraying him. Still when Pitch had said they were going to kill someone he didn't think it would be someone so young. Instead of heading straight to the barracks where he could keep an eye on him, Thomas veered left down a smaller path where one of the other soldiers had discovered a small stream that pooled in an area deep enough for them to wash off in. The others were making their way back to the barracks and only paused for a moment when Thomas changed directions. none of them wanted to go against Pitch's wishes so they left Thomas to keep a watch over Jack.

Thomas took Jack's sweatshirt off and tried to get some of the blood off of him. If Pitch needed Jack alive for some reason then the best way to keep him alive would be to make sure all the wounds he got didn't get infected. On Jack's back were several cuts, all varying in sizes that were surrounded by bruising. Thomas cleaned those first. Jack moved uncomfortably in his sleep as Thomas prodded at the wounds, but thankfully did not wake. Thomas hoped that he would stay asleep longer, just so General Pitch could get some sleep too. Thomas was the only one who saw him when he wasn't in battle mode and knew just how exhausted he really was.

Thomas made bandages from the shadows and wrapped them around Jack's back and torso, keeping them tight enough to stop the bleeding. Soon he had Jack cleaned off and just as he was about to pick him up and escort him to the barracks, Thomas saw his reflection. His eyebrows had fully formed now and were shaped like fine lines. His mouth was still small, but it was gaining more definition and the most prominent change was that he had formed eyes now. They were a dark black, but not soulless. They held a spark of light in them which was rather odd for a creature made from shadows, but then again Thomas wasn't ever really normal. He was the most advanced nightmare man of all of Pitch's creations, most of the others were still working on forming eyebrows but Thomas had almost developed his whole face. He smiled at his reflection and went to pick up Jack.

Jack let out a groan in pain as Thomas picked him back up, and Thomas nearly dropped him in shock. A quick look at Jack showed that he was till asleep, just coming into awareness now, Which was good as it meant there was no brain damage from getting beat about the head. Picking up Jack was like picking up air, Thomas decided as he made his way to the barracks. The boy barely weighed anything and now that he thought about it he was kinda short too. Almost like a little kid, but he must have done something horrible to warrant Pitch's wrath. Pitch usually had more self control than that, but as he could see from Jack's broken body, Pitch had absolutely lost it. Jack seemed to have several broken bones as they had already started swelling, His right arm, left leg and ribs seemed to have taken the brunt of the damage though.

Thomas laid Jack down on the floor and sat down next to him, watching the other shadows cautiously. One of the shadows began to approach him. He quickly stood and moved into defensive mode.

"Calm down toots, I'm not here to hurt cha'. Yeh jus didn't lay Em down right." The shadow reassured him in a light feminine tone. She kept talking as she began to form shadow pillows to prop up Jack's arm and leg.

"The name's Jude, but you can call me Jay if ya' like. Sounds cooler, I think." She looked like all of the other shadows, unformed and practically just moving shadows except all she had formed at the moment was a mouth. It wasn't small like his or big like some of the humans he had seen, it was just the right size and fit her perfectly. She smiled and sat down against the dirt wall next to him.

"So...you gotta name?" she tried to casually slip in the question but it just seemed to add an even more awkward feeling to the already tense air. He looked at her, surprised that she was even talking to him. All of the other nightmare men seemed like the only thing they could do was insult him and make jokes about him behind his back.

"M-my name's Tuh-tuh-Thomas." He told her, inwardly wincing every time he stammered. Her smile didn't drop though, it even brightened when she realized he was answering her.

"Thomas eh? Tha's a nice name. So yer the boy's watch dog?" Thomas frowned at the term but nodded.

"I-I guess yuh-you could say t-that." He gave Jack a glance to make sure he was still asleep, and was a relieved to see that he was. A drop of sweat was making it's way down his face, which Thomas brushed off because it was hot where they were anyway. They were just lucky that shadows couldn't feel temperatures. Jude went on to talk about whatever would come to her mind as they waited for Jack to wake up.

* * *

After taking a shower and getting all the blood off of him, he fell asleep at his desk. He awoke a just a few hours later, still tired but not nearly as tired as before. Still he had to figure out what to do about this whole hostage situation. What would he do if the guardians agreed? Why would they agree in the first place, they don't like Jack enough to give up the war against the dark for him. Pitch could only hope that he would be strong enough by the end of the month to face the rest of the guardians. He would need to make many more Nightmares and Nightmare men to send out and scare children, that way he could build up believers without putting himself in danger. The more believers he had, the more power he would gain.

Pitch used his shadows to take him to the barracks, he would need Thomas to help him figure out where to send the nightmares. The moment he entered the barracks the entire room went silent, except for a heavily accented voice in the front of the room. He turned to see who was talking and saw that it was a shadow talking to Thomas.

"And en' I said, uff wif er ead!" Thomas and the girl laughed before they realized that the room had gone silent. They searched out the reason for the silence and gasped when they finally saw Pitch.

"General P-pitch, w-we're so sorry! I-I didn't know you had e-entered the room Sir!" Thomas apologized, standing up and saluting Pitch.

"Stand down Thomas, I'll let it slide this one time. But only because I need your help. Come with me." Demanded Pitch, who then held out his hand. As Thomas fast walked towards him, Pitch couldn't help but notice Jack on the floor. Jack was cleaned of blood and Pitch wasn't sure what he thought about that. He really hated Jack for messing up his plans, not once but twice. But he really did think that Jack could have been great to join up with. Jack was a frozen beauty, he never changed and he didn't care what people thought of him, or at least he didn't care before the guardians came along. Jack would just use his powers to use them, doing what he wanted, when he wanted. Pitch admired that about Jack, now however Jack was left bleeding on the floor because he made the wrong choice. He had chosen the guardians over him, the only person who actually understood what Jack had been going through all those years. The _loneliness_, the sensation of someone walking through you, the feeling that no one might _ever_ see you. Pitch scowled and grabbed Thomas' hand. Throwing one last look at the pitiful creature, Jack Frost, before Shadowporting to his office.

'_Yes_,' thought Pitch darkly, his golden eyes swirling, '_He made a very wrong choice_.'

**AN**- Sorry that took so long to get out, I was spending all today planning out the next couple of chapters. _I really need you all to tell me what I'm doing wrong_ and where the story is lacking. **PLEASE REVIEW!** Also would you believe that only _279_ people have read this story? Only _36_ people read the last chapter (That's also partly because Fanfiction didn't put it on ROTG's just in page)

Some stories are a hit but I'm going to have to say this one is a miss. Thanks to **insaneshadowfangirl**, and **gothgal00 **for reviewing!


	5. Rude awakening

_Day 1, 5:14pm_

Jack awoke to the sound of chattering voices. His head felt like was about to implode on itself and he felt like something was burning him. He groaned and tried to move, only to scream. His eyes snapped open and he looked frantically around, his memories of the day's events flooding back into his mind. The first thing he saw was a pair of lips. A shadow person that had only a pair of lips was leaning over him. The talking had stopped and he could see even more shadows approaching him.

"Oh so the little frost demon is waking up?" One of them called, the others laughed at this as they stepped even closer. The lips shadow above him held out her arms and called for them to stop.

"The general needs him alive!" She announced hoping it would calm the group down. They stopped walking forward, but only for a moment.

"Yeah, but The general also said that he should be brought to his office as soon as he was woken up..." Jack couldn't tell who was speaking and who wasn't as only the shadow above him actually had lips. The rest of the shadows seemed to only have eyebrows and a partial nose- Jack screamed again. Someone had gone to pick him up and he couldn't even try to hide the pain he was in. He felt like he was burning from the inside, everything was so hot. He had never felt hot before, not that he could remember feeling at least. He was a frost spirit and had nothing to do with heat, him and the summer spirit tended to avoid each other for that exact same reason. They couldn't handle each others temperature. Someone had pulled him up by his sweatshirt and within less than a second he was surrounded by darkness.

They returned to the light in front of a door that seemed to made of darkness itself. The shadow man holding him put him down and knocked on the door, but Jack let out a harsh cry. He would have fallen over if the shadow man hadn't caught him. Jack felt a couple tears leave his eye as he tried not to cry out. His leg had to have been broken, he couldn't put even a little pressure on it without crying out.

"Enter." A dark voice commanded from the other side of the door and suddenly Jack was hit with a sense of panic. He knew that voice, that voice belonged to the one and only Pitch Black. Jack couldn't even think of his name without that terrible face coming into his mind. When he had been attacked, Pitch's face just seemed to have changed. Pitch looked like a rabid animal on the hunt for blood, it made Jack shiver in fear. Jack went to kick the shadow man, to do anything he could to get away from what was waiting for him in that room. Jack shrieked in pain, he had forgotten in his fear about his leg and arm. The shadow man panicked at Jack's screaming and tried the get door open as quickly as he could without putting any more pressure on Jack's wound.

* * *

Pitch had been in the middle of discussing possible locations with Thomas when they heard a cry from outside the door. Thomas looked startled but Pitch barely looked up.

"That must be a soldier with Jack." The grin he wore was positively frightening. They both stood by the maps waiting for the inevitable knock on the door, but when it came they found that they were not as prepared as they thought for Jack's arrival. There was one knock and then the screaming started. From the other side of the door they heard a blood curdling scream. Thomas walked forward, prepared to help stop the screaming but Pitch held out his arms to stop him.

"Enter." He called, his voice falling back into his public speaking mode. Less than a second after the screaming multiplied, It was to the point that it sounded like someone was being murdered out there. Thomas was looking back and forth from Pitch and the door frantically, grin gone, Pitch nodded at him to get the door. Thomas opened the door hesitantly, he had absolutely no idea what he was going to encounter on the other side of that door. What he did encounter however, left him wondering if he was seeing right. A nightmare man who only had eye's was holding Jack up by the back of his sweatshirt like a cat would hold up it's kitten. The shadow man looked absolutely terrified and Jack, who was usually pale, looked like an albino kitten. One of those deaf one's that don't know how loud their meowing.

"Thomas you have to help! Oh god, I was just gonna bring him up here cause' he woke up and then...And then I sat him down so I could knock. I forgot about his leg and he just started screaming!" The shadow was an absolute mess, and Jack was no better off. He had bitten his lip to stop from screaming and blood was dripping from his mouth. Thomas was quick to move into action though.

"O-okay, what's y-your name?" He asked, trying his best to calm the shadow down. The shadow took a deep breath before responding.

"I'm Archie. The one you beat at cards last night." He breathed out, now that he was somewhat calm and Jack was silent, he tried handing Jack to Thomas.

Thomas carefully slid Jack into his arms, trying to avoid placing his hands where he knew Jack was bandaged at. After a few quiet moments Thomas managed to hold Jack with both arms. Now that he wasn't in as much pain as before, Thomas noticed that his face was developing a flush. Archie scrambled away, forgetting that he could just use the shadows and be back in the barracks immediately.

Thomas stepped back into the room with Jack, who upon seeing Pitch began hyperventilating.

"S-stop struggling! Your j-just going to h-hurt yourself!" Thomas scolded as Jack tried to thrash away from the man who had attacked him so brutally.

"Jack, Jack, Jack.." Pitch called in a mockingly soothing voice.

"I'm not going to hurt you...much. I'm under an agreement with the guardians. You're my little hostage now." Now that he was close enough, Pitch could see all the damage he and his soldiers had caused. To be honest he was surprised that Jack had woken up so soon. He had expected more trouble than a few broken bones, especially after all the times Jack had hit the wall, but he supposed that some people were just lucky. He would have accepted that and gone on with taunting Jack, but he noticed something quite odd. The spirit of ice, who's face was always pale like freshly fallen snow, was flushed. A splash of red was making its way across his face and his eyes were dazed.

Pitch waltzed forwards and placed the back of his hand against Jack forehead, only to pull it back in shock. His forehead was burning up, his cuts must have started to get infected. Jack flinched away from Pitch's hand and let out a cry at the sharp pain that went through him from the sudden movement.

"Lay him down on the floor. I'm sure an ice spirit with a fever isn't a good thing." Jack closed his eyes as pressure was put on his back, and soon he was laying on the floor. Thomas looked on worriedly and Pitch knelt down next to Jack. Jack looked up at him in fear, being able to think of nothing but that terrible look Pitch had given him when he attacked. Pitch sighed and stood up, looking over to Thomas.

"Who do you trust well enough to take care of him?" He asked. Thomas' eyes widened and he thought of an answer as quick as he could.

"J-Jude, sir. She knows m-more about m-medical stuff than m-me." Thomas hadn't known her very long but she was one of the only shadows who had even bothered to help him. Pitch nodded thoughtfully.

"Go get her. Jack will need medical attention, I need him alive at the end of these thirty days." Pitch was ready to go back to sleep, he had never planned that all this trouble would happen. And he definitely didn't plan that he would end up having to keep Jack Frost of all people in his care. Pitch would have to keep someone guarding Jack at all times if he was going to try and continue with his power plans. He knew that Jack would do anything in his power to stop Pitch from becoming powerful again.

AN- This was a short chapter, sorry about that. It also will be the only one for a few days as I have somewhere to be, but during this time I'm going to plan out some more so I don't end up writing with little or no purpose like this chapter. _**Please review!**_


	6. The medic arrives

Jude was trying to catch up on her sleep when Thomas shook her.

"J-Jude! The G-General needs to s-see you!" He gave her little warning before taking them both back to Pitch's office.

"You can attend to Jack, can you not?" Jude looked up in shock at Pitch. He was giving her a job? One that only she had and not a group job? Not having the words to describe what she was feeling at the moment she nodded respectively.

"Good, you are going to stay in here with Jack and try and get his fever down." The order was final and there would be no complaints. Jude finally took notice of Jack on the floor. The boy who had been hollering in pain just minutes before was now reduced to whimpering in pain on the ground. Dropping down next to Jack, she immediately got to work. She would need to relieve Jack of some of his pain, as feeling pain can raise your body temperature. She worked quick, creating more shadow pillows to prop his injured limbs up with. Jack stared blearily up at her while Pitch and Thomas looked on from over near the globe. Thomas realized that Pitch had zoned out in thought but was unsure whether to get his attention. Thomas was still expendable and he wasn't going to risk this life over a day dreaming general.

Pitch snapped out of his thoughts only a few moments later as Jude continued to care for Jack. Seeing as there was nothing more to do Pitch turned back to the globe.

"Well there's more believers on the coast lines. It will take the guardians a lot longer to realize that they are losing believers, If we attack the coast line." Pitch's hand ghosted over the glowing golden lights. Lights that would soon be his if he had any say in how this war would turn out. Jack could somewhat make out what Pitch was saying, over the loud pounding in his head. He wished he could move, he wished he could do anything. He was just sitting there while Pitch was plotting the downfall of his friends, and he could do nothing but lay there and watch. Jude, noticing his distress put a cold shadowy hand to his forehead. Hoping that the cold would calm him down for now. She supposed that their location would be detrimental to the little frost spirits health, after all heat couldn't be good for someone who produces frost.

"General Pitch?" She called out, hoping she wouldn't get reprimanded for interrupting him. Pitch looked over, his eyes narrowed, waiting to see what she could possibly be interrupting their battle planning for.

"Do I 'ave permission ta escort Jack to ta stream? He'll need ta cool down if ya want tis' fever gone." Pitch looked down at Jack with a sneer before nodding and turning back to the globe. Jude touched Jack's shoulder and pulled the shadows towards them. When they appeared next to the stream, Jude had expected it to be deserted but someone was already there.

* * *

Archie had ran as fast as he could away from Pitch's office. He had absolutely no idea where he was headed, but he had to get away from the screaming. He had no idea what was even happening. On minute he was setting the captive down and then he just started with that terrible screaming. Archie ended up in a part of the mine that held a semi-clean pool of water. He hadn't seen it before and supposed that it must have been what the other had been talking about only a few days ago. Shadows didn't really have need of water as they couldn't get dirty, but none of them could deny that there was something beautiful about it. From the slight sliver of light that made its way into the room from a crack in the reflected on the water in a way that made it shine. He could see the small waves of water drifting down the room and through another crack, one that he had no idea where it led. Slowly Archie started to calm down. He sat beside the water and flicked at it with his hand. And suddenly he wasn't alone. Right next to him another shadow had appeared with the captive in tow.

"Oh sorry, didn't mean ta intrude. Just have ta get his fevah down." The shadow woman he realized, was the one Thomas had been conversing with in the barracks. He nodded, not trusting himself to speak but settling for watching the boy warily. He wasn't making any noise at the moment and almost would have seemed asleep but Archie could see that his eyes were trained on him.

Jude decided to try using the shadows to life Jack up. It would be more convenient than picking him up and agitating his wounds again. The shadows pushed upwards and slid Jack closer to the waters edge, to the point he was basically laying in it. She did her best to try and get him cooled down again. She had reason to believe that the heat was playing more than a major part in Jack's fever.

"So wha's ya name then?" She asked Archie, trying to create some casual conversation. Archie would have smiled, if he had a mouth. Instead he crinkled his eyes happily, glad that she was a little more sociable than the others.

"My names Archie, you were that girl hanging around with Thomas right?" She nodded, pursing her lips, unsure of what he was implying.

"Yeah...I'm Jude." The water around Jack started freezing over and Jude took that as a good sign. Jack used his left arm to prop himself up and the shadows moved over to help him. The cold seemed to have brought some of the fever down, and now that he was aware of what all was going on around him, Jude could attend to the lacerations that had gotten infected.

"Okay Jack, I'm gonna need ya' ta help me here. I gotta get ta the wounds on ya back." Jack gave the shadowy lips a dark glance, unsure whether to trust her or just leave it infected. But the woman's voice sounded to comforting to pass up so he agreed. She had the shadows flip him over and hold him up so she could get at his back. She undid the bandages that Thomas had wrapped and gasped. Jack's back looked terrible. When Pitch had kept throwing him at the wall, he had hit his back several times and the stone cut his back up. The cuts were red and angry looking. There was still blood seeping out of some of the bigger wounds and Archie, who had came up next to Jack to see what was wrong, gave a girlish shriek and jumped back. Jude on the other hand looked worried.

"Archie, I need you to stay here and watch Jack. I have to go ask the general for supplies, otherwise this infection could spread and become even more harmful." Jude vanished, leaving a shaking Archie behind.

* * *

**AN-**Wow this took forever and it's short. Mostly because I just didn't know how to write it and because I was busy with battle of the coffee shops. So sorry about this update.


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